Inhouse patients get mobile devices for virtual visits with family

In an effort to maintain face-to-face communication between our inhouse patients and their families during the COVID-19 crisis, while visitation is restricted, VCU Health is now providing dedicated smart phones or tablets in patient rooms and offering the device contact information to family members. This allows patients to see their friends and loved ones through Face Time, Zoom or other teleconferencing services.

At VCU Health, we believe family support is an essential element of healing.

As the COVID-19 crisis continues to disrupt visitation, providing inhouse patients with smart phones and tables allows families to continue participating in their loved ones’ care, even from a safe home setting.

We recommend that you provide your loved one a smart phone or tablet upon admission to the hospital, if possible. We can provide resource guides to you and your loved one on how to use these visual services.

Clinicians, too, will see patients remotely

In addition to our patient-to-family solution, VCU Health is creating a “telemedicine” style environment through which medical providers and team members communicate visually with COVID-19 patients without entering their room. Using smart phones or tablets, medical personnel can teleconference the patient as well as any clinical staff inside the room who are wearing personal protective equipment (PPE).

Our teleconferencing solution enables medical staff to perform a “virtual assessment” without entering the room. This helps reduce exposure for the patient, providers and staff. The devices will be disinfected between patients, as is done with other biomedical equipment.

New solutions arriving all the time

As our understanding of COVID-19 progresses, we will be identifying new practices to keep our clinical staff, patients and their loved ones safe. Please continue checking our COVID-19 website for new developments.